Usually by this point in June, discussion around music turns towards figuring out what the “song of the summer” is. It’s a time-honored tradition and a go-to discourse starter. Yet it also might not really be applicable anymore in the 2020s. Social media has fragmented culture, and with it also disrupted time. The entire history of music is fair game and traditional metrics of divining the sound of a season have fallen away.
Japan in 2026 offers a perfect example of this reality. As the summer sets in, there’s been a handful of viral hits that have permeated the online and IRL so far this year and might very well soundtrack the next few months too. None of them resemble a traditional “song of the summer.” They come from all over the place, and largely spread on the web although spilling more and more into the physical world. You might not hear them blasting out of cars — but they’ll be on every smartphone around you.
Here’s a quick catch-up of some of the most viral Japanese songs midway through the year. Use it both as a way to get a sense of what’s connecting with listeners, to understand just how all over the place trends are and as a guide to what you will probably encounter this summer. Oh, and maybe to learn some stretches too.
sakanaction — “Yoru No Odoriko”
The biggest J-pop song of 2026 might actually be from 2012. Rock band sakanaction’s nearly 14-year-old single “Yoru No Odoriko” found new life earlier this year thanks to the magic and madness of the internet. Now, it’s topping charts and en route to defining the now.
Background: It’s not like sakanaction weren’t already big names in 2026. They’ve been near the top of the Japanese rock pile since 2015 hit “Shin Takarajima” and scored a smash last year with the dramatic “Kaiju.” Yet “Yoru No Odoriko” was never a particularly big song for the quintet, despite efforts by some of us to sing its praises at the time. A fan favorite sure, but never close to being a zeitgeist-capturing work.
Well, until 2026.
How Did This Happen?: It begins with a child dancing on the bow of a boat.
Indonesian kid Rayyan Arkan Dikha captured internet attention in 2025 when a clip of him breaking a move while standing on the front of a boat participating in the country’s annual Pacu Jalur race. A version set to American rapper Melly Mike’s “Young Black And Rich” helped it spread across short-form-video sites — and helped popularize the concept of “aura farming” for good measure.
The internet loves a good meme, and isn’t afraid to recycle something when it sees fit. At the start of 2026, a Korean user grafted “Yoru No Odoriko” onto the clip of Dikha. This took off all over, but especially in Asia…including sakanaction’s home, where it gained momentum and climbed up charts in a way the single never approached. Critically, a rowing-inspired dance popped up alongside it, spreading the song even further.
It ended up on top of Oricon’s streaming charts…which band vocalist and guitarist Ichiro Yamaguchi celebrated by doing the viral dance tied to the track.
What Does It Mean: The entire history of Japanese music is open for use in the 21st century, something already established by the likes of Halcali’s “Otsukare Summer” gaining attention last year or no shortage of ‘70s / ‘80s tunes finding new appreciation online. What’s surprising about “Yoru No Odoriko” is…how recent it feels, showing how now even the 2010s are part of the great “past” that can be drawn upon to create scenes like the below.
sasane — “mosi mosi?”
Don’t think it’s only older artists who can find viral attention anymore, though. The debut song from the artist sasane showed even a newcomer can command internet attention if everything aligns right.
Background: The 18-year-old artist sasane dabbled in modeling and design work before starting to share covers of songs online in 2025. Those versions coupled with her voice helped her gain attention and nudged her to create an original song. She shared that, the upbeat “mosi mosi?,” in April.
The number itself is a J-pop highlight of the year, finding sasane’s somewhat surreal imagery and funny lyrics wrapping around music that sounds part Shibuya-kei, part Earthbound soundtrack. It’s a welcome stylistic shift to the modern sounds of Japanese music, nodding to the past without ever feeling overly nostalgic. It would be a great tune from an artist to watch in most situations.
Yet the world answered her call.
How Did This Happen?: Credit the chorus first, which works wonders in the context of the full song and as something that can kick off a piece of short-form content. Of course a phone-related dance popped up early on, which pushed “mosi mosi?” even further, eventually being embraced by all matters of artists and K-pop acts among millions more. She’s since shared an official video (above) and even performed in South Korea.
What Does It Mean: A lot of the reasons this one took off are familiar — catchy chorus, fits TikTok parameters, has an easy-to-do dance — so let’s look at something “mosi mosi?” and “Yoru No Odriko” represents. Both have gotten attention globally, but the bulk of it comes from South Korea, a market that has been embracing J-pop in recent years almost as heavily as Japanese listeners have come to K-pop. It’s an interesting development, and not limited to those two songs either. See also CUTIE STREET appearing on a Korean music show and becoming a buzzed about outfit too. The two neighbors have become closer pop culturally, and these songs are the soundtrack to it.
M!LK — “Bakuretsu Aishiteru”
Sometimes, momentum is all you really need to have a viral hit.
Background: Male idol outfit M!LK delivered two massive hits in 2025, both powered by TikTok but breaking short-form containment and becoming honest-to-goodness mainstream hits. That carried over to 2026, with the outfit’s “Bakurestsu Aishiteru” wowing audiences with its uptempo pace and Eurobeat-indebted breakdown. It topped charts and is one of the first half of 2026’s defining works, and unsurprisingly has done well online.
How Did This Happen?: Mainly, M!LK might be the artist of the year so far in 2026. They deliver a goofy and catchy energy to every song put out, and match it with charming personalities that translate well to TV. They’ve become stars, and the online embrace of “Bakuretsu Aishiteru” follows from that.
If you want something slightly deeper, it’s also thanks to renewed interest in more “retro” male idol sounds and sights. The sleeker interpretation of pop presented by K-pop dominated attention for quite some time, with Japanese groups such as BE:FIRST and JO1 being influenced by those aesthetics. Yet M!LK have helped usher in a revival for the Japan-style sparkly idol, almost certainly aided by the final tour from Heisei legends Arashi this past Spring.
What Does This Mean: A newfound resurgence in classic male idol tropes, extending to other viral hits too, such as this one from the group MONAKI.
BellyJay — “MONTAGEM HIKARI”
Sometimes, a viral hit in Japan manages to turn borders topsy turvy.
Background: BellyJay is a producer based in the Philippines who released the "Japanese Funk” song “MONTAGEMI HIKARI” near the start of the year. It’s a derivative of “phonk,” the hard-pounding dance style that gained prominence in the late 2010s and has since splintered into all kinds of sub-styles. “MONTAGEMI HIKARI” represents this Japan-as-imagined-by-non-Japanese creators best of all, built for the internet and purportedly featuring AI-generated vocals.
How Did This Happen?: “MONTAGEMI HIKARI” going viral globally makes sense given all the details of the song and surrounding visuals. It is tapping into an already very-online style built to break out, and coupling it with always-trendy Japanese plus artwork featuring anime-style women. That’s like catnip to modern short-form sensibilities.
Yet it ended up also being a big TikTok hit in Japan, which muddies up everything a little more. It climbed up viral charts this spring and became a constant soundtrack to various short-form creations.
What Does This Mean: Immediately, it represents an interesting development in how AI can assist producers in not just making music but also dealing with languages they don’t understand. It isn’t clear to what extent BellyJay used AI — in an interview with Japanese site Natalie, he doesn’t really answer questions about the language itself — but something seems up, and it underlines one potential path forward for viral hits.
Another angle on it — Japanese sounds and aesthetics have gotten so big globally that they can be reinterpreted and rejiggered by people from all over the planet. In the same Natalie interview, BellyJay says his interest in J-pop came from YOASOBI, discovered during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. That comes across in the song, with the vocals drawing from that duo’s stylings but placed into a new context.
Aeropickles — “Aeropickles”
This one kind of speaks for itself.
Background: Komeanime created “Aeropickles” and shared the above video in late April. It is about pickles who do aerobics. There’s five of them, all boasting voices created using characters found on text-to-speech site VoiceVox.
How Did This Happen?: Just watch it, how could it not get huge? This is an example of almost old-school internet virality, where a silly original idea gets turned into a YouTube video and spreads all over. Perhaps not “Badger Dance” big, but this feels sort of Aughts in all its goofiness.
Of course, it has spread via TikTok and other short-form video, with the dance the veggies do inspiring plenty to give their own try at it while that tasty hook plays.
What Does This Mean: Mostly that people love when pickles do exercise. No need to overthink it.
Though if you do want to go a layer deeper here…Komenaime shared a “making of” video offering a peek into how “Aeropickles” came together. It detailed how the artist themselves made the characters and their movements fully. That caught the attention of commenters, several of whom noted how AI could never replicate something as wacky as this. Which does hit at something bigger — as generative AI becomes more commonplace, even in our meme songs, the clear human touch goes a long way. What machine could think of Young Cucumber, anyway?
